Did China's shipbuilders miss counting 16 vessels? January orders surpass South Korea, reclaiming global top spot

Continuing its leading momentum from last year, China's shipbuilding industry once again outpaced South Korea in January's order intake, securing the top spot globally. However, Clarkson's data statistics "error" has again sparked questions from the South Korean side.

According to Clarkson's latest data, global new ship orders in January 2023 totaled 72 vessels with 1.96 million CGT, a significant year-on-year decrease of 63%. Chinese shipbuilders received orders for 40 vessels totaling 1.12 million CGT, accounting for 57% of the global total and securing the top position. South Korean shipbuilders received orders for 12 vessels totaling 640,000 CGT, representing 33% and ranking second.

In response, South Korean media stated that Clarkson omitted a large number of orders from South Korean shipbuilders in last month's order performance statistics, resulting in changes in the order rankings of various countries. If these omitted orders were included, South Korea's shipbuilding industry would have received 28 vessels and nearly 1.5 million CGT of new ship orders in the first month of the new year, surpassing China to take the lead.

South Korean media emphasized that Clarkson's January order statistics only showed 12 new ship orders for South Korean shipbuilders, while a significant 16 orders were omitted.

South Korean media analyzed the reasons for Clarkson's omission of these orders, including:

On February 1, HD Hyundai Group (formerly Hyundai Heavy Industries Group)'s shipbuilding business holding company, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, announced that it had signed a contract with a European shipowner for the construction of 12 container ships, with a contract value of 2.5264 trillion won (approximately US\$2.056 billion). On January 31, Samsung Heavy Industries announced that it had signed a contract with an Oceania shipowner for the construction of two large LNG carriers, with a total contract value of 609.7 billion won (approximately US\$500 million).

South Korean media stated that the construction contracts for the above two large new ship orders were signed on January 31 and announced on February 1, but Clarkson marked the order date as February 1, thus excluding them from the January statistics.

Similarly, K Shipbuilding (formerly STX Shipbuilding) orders for two 50,000-ton deadweight MR-type product oil/chemical tankers from a European shipowner on January 31 were not reflected in Clarkson's statistics.

Therefore, according to the South Korean side, if the 16 new ship orders with construction contracts signed on January 31 were included, South Korea's shipbuilding industry would have received a total of 28 vessels and approximately 1.48 million CGT of new ship orders in January, surpassing China in terms of CGT. At the same time, the global new ship order volume in January should be revised to 88 vessels and 2.8063 million CGT. In terms of CGT, South Korea's market share would be 52.7%, and China's would be 40.1%.

South Korean media stated that the order value for South Korea's shipbuilding industry in January was approximately US\$4.4 billion, but the 40 new ship construction contracts announced by Chinese shipbuilders did not specify the ship prices, making comparison by order value impossible.

Clarkson's data shows that the global backlog of orders at the end of January was 109.13 million CGT, a month-on-month decrease of 770,000 CGT. Chinese shipbuilders held the top spot with 49.19 million CGT, accounting for 45% of the market share, followed by South Korean shipbuilders with 37.58 million CGT and a 34% market share.

Clarkson's Newbuilding Price Index, which reflects changes in new ship prices, stood at 162.51 points in January, an increase of 0.7 points from December and 8.25 points higher than the same period last year.

In terms of ship types, a 174,000 cubic meter LNG carrier was priced at US\$248 million, unchanged from the end of October; very large crude carriers (VLCCs) remained at US\$120 million; 13,000/14,000 TEU ultra-large container ships remained at US\$145 million; and 176,000-180,000 deadweight ton Capesize bulk carriers remained at US\$60.5 million.

Last year, global new ship orders totaled 1,384 vessels with 42.78 million CGT. Chinese shipyards received orders for 728 vessels totaling 20.8 million CGT, accounting for 49% and ranking first globally. South Korea followed with 289 vessels and 16.3 million CGT, accounting for 38%.

This marks the second consecutive year that Chinese shipbuilders have ranked first globally in order intake since 2021. Prior to this, South Korea had held the top spot for three consecutive years.